Aug 31, 20135 minThe writer in winterSomewhat embarrassedly, I must admit that I had not read Paul Auster, widely acknowledged as one of America’s leading novelists, till his...
Aug 2, 20134 minRemembrances of things pastThe rain pours down. The glowering grey of the clouds thickens the green of the neem, the jamun, even the keekar trees of Delhi. Traffic...
May 31, 20135 minFrom easy rider to revolutionaryBrowsing the bursting bookshelves at Bangalore’s bookshop, Blossoms, I found myself hoping for a small miracle: that from the piles of...
May 3, 20134 minPoems on the SandSome half a century ago, Paula Ben-Gurion, wife of Israel’s first Prime Minister looked over the hedge while pottering around her Tel...
Mar 2, 20135 minThe superfluous manIt’s the same space in the sky, but that’s about it. The tall, straight-lined and right-angled Intourist Hotel, the pride of Soviet...
Feb 2, 20135 minOf Valour SublimeFor several days now, the military bands have been practising beyond my office window, perfecting their march down to Vijay Chowk and...
Nov 30, 20125 minE.M. Forster chews ‘paan’A passage to India in the company of E.M. Forster Occasional writing is a much neglected and sometimes denigrated genre probably because...
Nov 2, 20124 minRage, rage against the dying of the lightTracing Dylan Thomas’s steps to his favourite watering hole, the White Horse Tavern, New York. I am in literary legend land in downtown...
Oct 31, 20124 minShort stopoverNavtej Sarna’s short story collection is here. As is Prajwal Parajuly’s. Will they usher in good times for short story writers in a...
Oct 31, 20125 minThe unquiet EnglishmanThe Quiet American throws light on Graham Greene's personal life and is a vivid demonstration of his affirmed anti-Americanism. An early...
Jun 1, 20125 minOf Lords, aunts and pigsRenewing one's acquaintance with Wodehouse is not unlike the timely pick-me-up administered by Jeeves to Bertie on the morning after the...
May 4, 20124 minStoryteller sublimeEli Amir's novels examine issues of identity and the true meaning of exile. It is the best hour of the day in Jerusalem. The...
Mar 2, 20125 minOf Writers and writersWhile some have all the time in the world to just put pen to paper, there are some authors who work all day and write at night. Judging...
Dec 2, 20114 minTo savour and swirl50 Great Short Stories, edited by Milton Crane is a remarkable collection with a huge variety of settings, subjects and styles but...
Sep 2, 20115 minPoetry on a perfect pitchIt was by accident that Sir Neville Cardus started writing on cricket. He ended up becoming its most stylish chronicler and it's a...
Aug 5, 20114 minThe Chatterley hat trickThree books that give you the complete story behind D.H. Lawrence's notorious Lady Chatterley's Lover. Not the most felicitous of...
Dec 5, 20094 minWizard called OzR amat Aviv is a leafy suburb of Tel Aviv, the understated terrain of the intellectuals, lawyers and professors, politicians and...
Oct 31, 20094 minOf the inconstant heartThree weeks to read two hundred some pages, but that’s the kind of book it is. The Good Soldier - A Tale of Passion by Ford Madox Ford...
Aug 1, 20093 minGo East, young manThe Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham has sold millions of copies in many formats- hardback, paperback, classic, even two movies. But...
Jul 4, 20094 minStrange and mystic businessAllenby Street in Tel Aviv is a busy place at lunch time. Amidst the roadside cafes, the pizzerias, the shop fronts full of mannequins in...